European Union Tightens Online political Advertising Rules
European Union wants to prevent non-EU agents from placing political ads on social media platforms in order to give full control over the political advertising campaigns of non-EU advertisers to EU residents.
The use of micro-targeted social media advertising by US politicians for their political campaigns is nothing new. If you start looking back to 2008, you’ll find that Barack Obama’s US presidential campaign used micro-targeted social media ads, which use personal data to target specific groups of voters. was used extensively.
Marketing Techniques
The use of marketing techniques has a mark increase in the following years. And this trend was finally seen strongly in the 2016 US presidential election. The successful presidential campaign of the Republican candidate Donald Trump in this election is credit to Cambridge Analytica, a well-known British political consulting firm, which played a key role in making Trump’s political campaign and presidential election possible. It was revealed that this company had collected data from millions of Facebook profiles.
Micro-targeted Political Advertising
The recent agreement by the European Union on an agreement between member states is proof that micro-target political advertising will no longer be allow in the EU. Representatives of the Council of the European Union, which brings together the European Parliament and government ministers of member states, agreed to the deal.
Prevent hidden effects
The deal, agree upon by EU member states. Paves the way for a new law that says personal data can only collect if users opt to use it for political advertising. is expressly permitted. Data that allows advertisers to create profiles base on ethnicity. Political views, or sexual orientation will completely exclude from being collect, according to a press release from the European Council and the European Parliament. Formal approval for implementation of this law is still pending.
Media and Communication Studies
Martin Emmer, a professor at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies at the Berlin-based Freie Universität, told DW that the new laws may not eliminate microtargeting entirely. Amer said that micro-targeting is an important tool for political parties to reach voters on social media. “The rules are primarily about preventing hidden influence. Which includes advertising tailor to a person’s life circumstances. In such a way that they don’t have any influence.” It is not possible to identify a party’s ideology, he noted.
Information Warfare
One of the goals of implementing such a law in the European Union is to reduce. As much as possible the influence of countries outside the European Union. In the elections held within the bloc. According to a press release from the European Parliament. Three months before a referendum in the European Union, advertising funding from third countries will limit.
Important Intervention
For example, in Germany, under these laws. Voters of Turkish origin will not allow to influence by Turkish politicians. Although Russia was not mention in this discussion. Under this law, the attempt to control the Kremlin’s influence. Will also an important intervention. It should note that the European Commission has repeatedly warn against interference by Russia in recent years.
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